News Release

Building on the scope of Robert Friedberg’s groundbreaking research, the Guide Book of United States Paper Money, fourth edition, is an engaging history and price guide of the paper currency of the United States. The full-color, 416-page book is available for $24.95 online (including at WhitmanBooks.com) and from booksellers and hobby retailers nationwide.

The Guide Book describes in detail every federal note from the ultra-rare Demand Notes of 1861 to the lunch money in our wallets today. Fascinating narrative captures the romance and history of American paper money, and also explores recent developments in the hobby and market, including the latest Federal Reserve Notes up to the Series of 2009 $100. The book combines the hobby-standard Friedberg numbering system with retail values in multiple grades. It is illustrated with hundreds of high-resolution full-color images.

“The first three editions of the Guide Book of United States Paper Money were very popular with collectors and dealers,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in interest in paper-money collecting since the first edition was published in 2005. New collectors are constantly joining the hobby, so we’ve designed the fourth edition for newcomers as well as longtime hobbyists.”

Authors Arthur and Ira Friedberg are well known in the numismatic world. They have been professional numismatists for more than 30 years. Both joined their father’s family firm, The Coin & Currency Institute, after college. Since then they have established themselves as award-winning authors, coin dealers, researchers, and numismatic consultants to numerous governments and organizations.

Chapters cover notes from $1 to $10,000; Fractional Currency; Treasure notes of the War of 1812; encased postage stamps; error notes; signatures on U.S. currency; uncut sheets; and other hobby topics. The book includes a glossary and a bibliography for further research.

Whitman Publishing announces the impending release of volumes 1 and 2 of the Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money, by Q. David Bowers. Each volume is an 8.5 x 11–inch hardcover book printed in full color on high-quality paper. Volume 1 is “An Introduction for Collectors and Historians.” Volume 2 is the first of three volumes on the New England states. The books will debut at the Memphis International Paper Money Show, June 12, 2014. After that they will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online (including at www.Whitman.com), for $39.95 each. The books can also be borrowed for free as a benefit of membership in the American Numismatic Association, through the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library.

The Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money is a multiple-volume study of currency issued from 1782 to 1866, before the modern era of National Banks and the Federal Reserve. Over the course of these decades more than 3,000 state-chartered banks issued their own paper money.

In this magisterial set of standard references, the “Dean of American Numismatics,” Q. David Bowers, has compiled decades of research from 18th- and 19th-century bank reports, contemporary newspapers, and other primary sources. He gives the history of every state, every town and city, and every bank that issued this uniquely American currency. Each note is studied, and thousands are pictured in full color, with information on grading, rarity, values, significant auction results, advice for collectors, and more.

Active collectors, researchers, dealers, historians, and other experts have volunteered their time and knowledge to help create this new encyclopedia series.

The Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money is a project of grand scope, a gathering of stories about our nation—from small town to big city, from the early days following the Revolution to the tribulations of the Civil War. It paints a beautifully detailed landscape of America and its early money.

The 288-page volume 1 is the beginning of the journey: an introduction to obsolete paper money and an overview of the hobby. In the 752-page volume 2, Bowers gives the history of every town and city, as well as of every bank that issued this uniquely American currency, in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Future volumes will cover the Mid-Atlantic states, the American Midwest, the South Atlantic states, the District of Columbia, and territories.

What People Are Saying About the Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money

Bowers’s accomplishments in the field of numismatics are legendary. Every serious collector and dealer of obsolete paper money will find this vital reference the backbone to his or her collection or business.

— C. John Ferreri, numismatic researcher and historian

Destined to become a landmark event in the unfolding history of U.S. paper-money collecting. These works should be on the shelves of our institutions of higher education and in historical societies of all the states covered.

— Fred Reed, editor, Paper Money Magazine

Whitman Publishing announces the release of Morgan Dollar: America’s Love Affair With a Legendary Coin, by Michael “Miles” Standish. The 160-page hardcover book will be available May 27, 2014, from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online (including at Whitman.com), for $29.95.

Miles Standish is vice president and senior grader of PCGS. His new book presents an engaging history and coin-by-coin study of the famous Morgan silver dollar. Morgan Dollar: America’s Love Affair With a Legendary Coin features the recollections of famous dollar dealer John B. Love, beautiful high-resolution photographs of the Coronet Collection (ranked by PCGS as the “Number One Finest Morgan Dollar Set of All Time”), certified-coin populations, retail prices in multiple grades, and other valuable contents for collectors, investors, and students of American history.

“I predict that this will be the ‘go to’ book on the Morgan dollar,” said John Mercanti, 12th chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, who wrote the foreword. “It’s informative, easy to read, and perfect for the experienced Morgan collector or for the new collector just starting out.”

Various sections discuss America during the Morgan dollar era; the anatomy of the coin’s design; a market study going back to 1946; a year-by-year analysis of the series, including Philadelphia, New Orleans, Carson City, Denver, and San Francisco coins; and Morgan dollar Proofs. For further research the book is rounded out with end notes, a bibliography, and an index.

Morgan Dollar: America’s Love Affair With a Legendary Coin can also be borrowed for free as a benefit of membership in the American Numismatic Association, through the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library.